July 15, 1886.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



491 



"The President as an Angler."— Under the above 

 heading in your issue of June 17, you say, "A Lockport, 

 N- Y., correspondent, who was a schoolmate of President 

 Cleveland, writes us that the lattei's angling proclivities 

 were developed at an early age." As 1 presume the Lock- 

 port correspondent refers to me, I wish to make a correction. 

 I think that I wrote you that "1 had fished and hunted with 

 Grover Clevelaud in our boyhood days, thirty odd years 

 ago " At the time I was a clerk in the store of his brother- 

 in-law, Wm. E. Hoyt, at Theresa, N. T., and Grover came 

 there to spend his vacation, and thus it happened that we 

 fished and hunted together on Indian River. He did most 

 of the fishing while 1 did most of the hunting, and I shall 

 never forget how he hooked and lost a large black bass in 

 some flood wood, and I could not get hira'away from that 

 place for an hour, as he was bound to have that bass as it 

 was larger (we always lose the largest fish) than any he had 

 caught, but he did not succeed, and that was the only time 

 1 ever knew him to get beaten. Last August, while spend- 

 ing my vacation on Indian River, I located the place, but the 

 flood wood had disappeared, as had also the hickory trees 

 where I spent most of the time shooting black and gray 

 squirrels, while Cleveland was fishing for black bass. We 

 did no angling in those days, but the bass are there yet and 

 also the gamy muscalonge and the less gamy pickerel, and 

 arrangements are now being made to place from 150,000 to 

 250,000 California trout in Indian River and a few of the ten 

 lakes in the town of Theresa, and should President Cleve- 

 land ever renew his "angling proclivities" on Iodian River 

 he will probably have to take in a few trout and more "long 

 snouts" (as '•Kingfisher" puts it) and possibly a thirty or 

 forty pound muscalonge. — J. L. D. (Lockport, N.Y., July 8). 



Blooming Grove Park.— The Fourth of July, 1886, was 

 celebrated on the fifth at Blooming Grove Park. There were 

 fifty guests at the club house. "While many of the members 

 were catching trout in the Blooming Grove and Shahala 

 creeks, and others were trying the bass on Lake Giles, clay- 

 pigeon matches were contested. [The scores are given else- 

 where.] There was one thing very noticeable about the 

 Fourth at the Park, and that was the absence of the fire- 

 cracker and the inevitable burned fingers and hands of the 

 small boy. Beyond a few torpedoes, the entire noise of the 

 day was made by the shooting of the guns on the pigeon 

 range. Two of the members went after woodcock and suc- 

 ceeded in bagging tivft on Tuesday and four on Wednesday. 

 The fi*hing now at the park is most excellent. There is no 

 trouble in any one taking his quota of twenty-five trout, all 

 over seven inches, and the bass fishing, especially at Lake 

 Laura, is really wonderful. Lake Giles is stocked from 

 Lake Laura, and when parties go to the latter lake they are 

 required to keep alive as many of the catch as is possible. 

 Last Saturday five rods, using bait and fly, took from Lake 

 Laura five hundred and fifty black bass, keeping alive over 

 three hundred of them. These will be taken to Lake 

 Giles to day. Of these bass some weighed over a pound, a 

 few about a pound and a quarter. 



Preserving FREsn Fisn. — Editor Forest and Stream: 

 I desire to benefit my fellow sportsmen by a suggestion on 

 the preservation (in perfect condition) of fish. My experi- 

 ence at the Northern lakes has been that it was impracticable 

 to save for transportation, especially the catch which had to 

 be immediately killed, on account of being badly hooked, as 

 well as those selected from the car at the time of departure 

 from the fishing camp I visited Camp Bemis, Rangeley 

 Likes, this season, arriving there May 30. June 7 I caught 

 a beautiful speckled three-pounder, which was so badly 

 hooked we immediately killed it, and on landing treated 

 it with Rex Magnus, Viandine brand. At the close of my 

 fishing, the 12th, I selected the choicest specimens from my 

 catch, gave them the same treatment, and the 14th carefully 

 wrapped them in cloth and birch bark dampened with a 

 solution of Rex Magnus, placed them in my gripsack, 

 carried it with me in the cars, and had them served in 

 my home the 20th, where they were pronounced by experts 

 to be first-class trout in every respect. I am resolved never 

 to go to the lakes without a supply of Rex* Magnus. — 

 Franklin H. Hart (New Haven, Conn., June 29). 



Five Bass that Cannot re Caught. — The Athens, Pa.' 

 Gazette of July 10, says: "From the Chemung River bridge 

 can be seen almost any clear day five large black bass, wbich 

 good judges pronounce will weigh from four to six pounds. 

 It is said by some that they were seen there last season. 

 They are old fish— too old in fact, for the best fishermen in 

 this vicinity ; they take to nothing but water and small fish, 

 and the small fry must not be attached to hook or line. The 

 most tempting morsels have been set before them, yes, whole 

 picnics of toads, frogs, bullheads and everything a bass 

 could possibly relish has been cast to them. Da vies, Smith, 

 Knaresboro, Kinner and all the celebrated fly-fishermen have 

 spread the surface of the water with ornamental feathers 

 for a week past; shotguns and rifles have been brought to 

 bear upon them. Hill tries his new experiment now and 

 then, but the old bass wink in a manner that would indicate 

 that the fellow with the shot-gun was a little fresh. One of 

 the number at least has been there, as he trails a leader 

 nearly four feet long. Parties from other towns are working: 

 with them. They come, fish and go, but the bass are still 

 there." 



New Brunswick. — Magaguadavic Lake in tbe parish of 

 Prince William, easily accessible from Fredericton, is said 

 to afford good trouting. Two St. John anglers took the 

 train for the station alongside the lake a few days ago. 

 They fished during the afternoon and evening, taking 

 upward of one hundred. The largest weighed five pounds, 

 and the smallest turned the scales at fifteen ounces. This 

 lake is one of the best trout fishing waters in New Brans- 

 wick.— Fred. 



Maine. — Machias, June 28. — The circulation of Forest 

 and Stream in Maine is one of our greatest helps in fish and 

 game protection. Game prospects are good. Deer are re- 

 ported in large numbers about the sea shore, in meadows 

 and about openings and streams. I have seen plenty of 

 tracks at their crossings. Grouse are having a good season 

 for batching. I don't believe the crust did much damage to 

 game last winter. — H. 



New Hampshire. — Colebrook, July 12. — From short trips 

 to northeast and northwest from this place to Canadian 

 borders I can report deer feeding in the marsh lands in 

 greater numbers than I have ever before seen signs of. 

 Moose in some secluded localities have made the muddy 

 shores look like the pasture lands in more civilized localities. 

 —Ned Norton, 



How to Catch Frogs. — Frankfort, Ky., July 4. — Your 

 correspondent, "Hoosier," asks "Kingfisher" how to catch 

 frogs for bait. Now, having seen "Kingfisher" on all fours 

 chasing speckled frogs turough a Michigan meadow, with 

 the frightened frog sometimes "a leetle ahead," but both 

 jumping six feet at a bounce, wc are not going to interfere 

 with his experienced explanation to "Hoosier" of "how to 

 do it." But we would advise "Hoosier," despite "Jeems 

 Mackerel's" lucid instructions to the contrary, that there is 

 no better way to catch frogs for bait than by sprinkling salt 

 on their tails.— Snake Root. Keokuk, Iowa, July 6. — If 

 "Hoosier" will try the frogs with au ordinary landing or 

 minnow net, he will have no trouble in catching them. — 

 Jason. 



A Fish-line Dryer. — We have just seen a neat device for 

 drying lines, which can be attached to a tackle box or other 

 object. It is nickel plated and is both neat and handy. It 

 is called the "Brooks fish line drj ing reel," and is sold by A. 

 G. Spalding & Bros. __ 



So easy to row with Allen's bow facers. Catalogue free. Oars 

 complete, $8 per pair. Fred A. Allen, Monmouth, li\.—Adv. 



JUMfcnltme. 



Address all communications to the Forest and Stream Publish 

 ing Co. 



OYSTER CULTURE. 



BY FRED MATHER. 

 [Read before tbe American Fisheries Society.] 



MR. E. G. BLACKFORD, Commissioner of Fisheries of 

 New York: Sir: I herewith submit to you the report 

 on "Oyster Propagation" at Cold Spring Harbor during the 

 summer of 1885. I had watched the experiments of the late 

 Professor Henry J, Rice, tbe previous season, with great 

 interest, and saw that while he hatched many oysters in the 

 wooden tank, they came to nothing because, as I believe, the 

 temperature of the witer was too high, the tank being in the 

 sun without cover and supplied with a very small stream of 

 water through a % inch hose. This tank was made of two-inch 

 pine plank, twelve feet long, six feet wide and three feet 

 deep, coated with coal-tar inside and out. I moved the tank 

 to the north side of the fish-hatchery building where it would 

 be shaded, and covered it with boards to keep it clean. The 

 water for the experiments was supplied by a hot air engine 

 belonging to the Fish Commission, and was pumped from our 

 salt-water pond some 700 feet distant from the hatchery, and 

 thrown up on the hill in a cemented reservoir from whence it 

 was brought into the building through two-inch pipes. Two 

 to three hours pumping daily was all that was required for 

 these operations. 



We also made experiments in the large salt-water pond, 

 spoken of above. This pond is some 280 feet long, by 150 feet 

 wide, and receives water at high tide through a flood gate 

 which holds it at all times. It will be noticed by the record 

 given below, that the water in this pond, which has a depth 

 of two to six feet, was warmer, as a rule, than that in the 

 wooden tank in the shade of the building, and it was in the 

 pond that our greatest success was made. 



We obtained oysters at the spawning season from the oyster- 

 men here, and these were opened, and all whose appearance 

 denoted ripeness were selected and placed one side. The sign 

 of ripeness was the peculiar fullness and milky appearance of 

 the ovaries and spermaries which is readily seen by any per- 

 son who is at all familiar with them. The oysters then, lying 

 on one shell, were taken and the mantle and gills trimmed off 

 with small sharp scissors; pressure was then applied with the 

 scissors to the ovaries and the exuding drop was placed upon 

 a glass slide under the microscope, where the eggs can readily 

 be distinguished from the milt of the male, after a person has 

 once had the difference pointed out to him. 



The male oysters were separated from the female, so that 

 we could see what proportion we had of each. Sometimes 

 we would lack the male element and consequently could get 

 no impregnation. At other times there was a fair amount of 

 both sexes. The eggs were stripped from the female by pres- 

 sure, and then the male was treated in the same manner, 

 taking both the eggs and the milt in an ordinary milk pan and 

 adding water gradually. In a short time a drop of this water 

 placed under the microscope would be seen swarming with 

 the spat in the swimming stage of its existence, and then they 

 were placed in the tank or in the pond. The bottom of the 

 tank was covered with gravel, and scollop shells were sus- 

 pended on strings across it. The current was very light and 

 the spat seemed to sink and catch upon the gravel, for we 

 caught none upon the hanging shells in this water. Toward 

 the last of August the tank was examined and the few oys- 

 ters adhering to the gravel were removed and placed iu bhe 

 salt-water pond. The success in this wooden tank was not as 

 complete as the experiment in the pond, and but few oysters 

 were got from it. 



During July and August, while the record was kept, the 

 variations m temperature were very slight, whde the density 

 of the water was remarkably uniform; the greatest specific 

 gravity being 1.030 and the least 1.018, and the temperature of 

 the water in the tank was at all times below that of the pond, 

 in which the sun shone directly. We made no attempt to esti- 

 mate the number of these minute eggs, whieh are only visible 

 under the microscope, but took all we could get from the four 

 bushels of oysters. 



The bottom of the large pond was covered with scollop 

 shells; stakes were stuck about twenty feet apart all over its 

 bottom and strings were stretched between these, while on the 

 strings we hung perforated shells. We obtained a good "set" 

 of oysters in this pond, the best on the shells at the bottom, 

 and, while there was six feet of water in the center of the 

 pond, we obtained no "set" whatever on the suspended shells 

 beyond three feet from the bottom. At three feet we noticed 

 an occasional oyster, within two feet of the bottom they were 

 more plentiful, and increased as the bottom was approached. 

 On Sept. 19 we drew off the pond and examined it for the last 

 time before winter ; there were thousands of young oysters of 

 the size of a dime. 



Prof. John A. Ryder, of the TJ. S. Fish Commission, has sug- 

 gested an admirable way to collect spat by means of a canal 

 provided with ledges near the top to support receptacles for 

 the cultch. These receptacles are formed by wooden strips 

 and wire cloth, and hold about three bushels of shells each, 

 the "basket" being three feet wide, three feet deep and only 

 six inches thick, so that the shells are thicfcly presented to 

 the floating spat. The experiments of Prof. Ryder have been 

 very valuable, and so have those of Prof. Brooks, Lieut. 

 Wmslow, Prof. Rice and Col. McDonald in America, and 

 these of Profs. Hock, Horst and MSbius, and M. Bouchon 

 Brandely in Europe. Prof. Ryder lays down the following 

 principles: 



"1. Oyster embryos, under ordinary conditions in open 

 water, diffuse and affix themselves throughout the three di- 

 mensions of such a body of sea water. This is a well-known 

 and readily verifiable fact. 



2. The fry will adhere to smooth surfaces as well [as to 

 rough ones. 



•3. The surface upon which spatting occurs must be kept as 

 free as possible from sediment and organic growths, in order 

 that the tiny young mollusks may not be smothered and 

 killed during the most critical period of their lives. 



4. Artificial fertilization of the eggs of the oyster is feasible, 

 and will become an important adjunct to successful spat cul- 

 ture. 



5. Water charged with embryo oysters may be passed 

 through a steam pump without injury to such embryos. 



6. Oyster fry adheres to tbe imder surface of shells or other 

 collectors most abundantly because the lower side is cleanest 

 and most favorable to the survival of the animals. 



7. The spat of the oyster will grow and thrive with com- 

 paratively little light. 



8. The specific gravity of the water may range from 1.003 to 

 1.0235. 



9. The most favorable temperatures of the water for spat- 

 ting seem to be from 68 degrees to about 78 or 80 degrees Fahr. 



10. Spatting will occur just as freely in ponds or tanks as iu 

 the open water. 



These are well ascertained elementary facts and upon them 

 we must base our new method, which is essentially a system 

 of spat culture, or method of rearing seed oysters for the pur- 

 pose of cultivation on tbe open beds" or any suitable bottom. 

 We must, however, first of all throw aside as too expensive 

 any and all systems in which tiles or slates are used, especially 

 if these must be fastened together in nests and coated with 

 lime and cement, as practiced in Europe. Oysters are too 

 cheap in America to be produced by any of the old-fogy sys- 

 tems which are available there, as it will not pay to flake off 

 the spat from the collectors under ordinary circumstances in 

 cultivating the American oyster for market, because of its 

 low price." 



The experiments at Cold Spring Harbor have attracted 

 some attention from the oystermen about there, and some of 

 them have expressed themselves pleased with the results, and 

 incline to think that seed oysters could be raised in quantities 

 by any person who had an inclosed pond such as ours, where 

 the water came in at times of high tide, and that they would 

 be reasonably certain to get a fair "set" on proper cultch. 



The following is from the journal kept by my foreman, Mr. 

 F. A. Walters: ' 



July 1— Received first lot of oysters, opened one bushel, 

 found 17 ripe females and 1 ripe male; took spawn from these. 

 After 9 hours, as there was no sign of life, considered not good. 



July 4— From % bushel, 9 females, 3 males, milt not active, 

 no sign of life after 10 hours. 



July 5— From % bushel, 11 females, 1 male. Three hours 

 after taking spawn young were swimming; put in tank. 



July 9— Put in tank 3 pans of spawn. 



July 10 — From 200 oysters 175 were ripe females, 18 not 

 spawning and 7 partly ripe males; had to lose all. 



July 11- From 80 oysters 60 ripe females, 4 unripe males, 

 and 16 not spawning. 



July 14 — Cleaned tank. 



July 16— Ground-gate of salt pond had to be taken out 

 owing to a leak, poor tides followed, pond did not fill for five 

 days, could not pump and consequently no circulation in tank 

 for that time. 



July 20— Opened 70 oysters, found 20 ripe males, 30 females 

 and 20 not spawning. Took two pans of spawn at 10:20 A. M., 

 swimming at 2 P. M. , put in salt pond. 



July 22— Put spawn from 200 in salt pond. 



July 26— Cleaned tank, could find no set. 



July 28— Put in pond 4 pans of spawn in good order. 



July 31— Put in tank 4 pans of spawn, the best lot taken. 



August 11— Cleaned tank, and put in spawn from 1 bushel 

 oysters. 



August 20— Discovered set in tank. 



September 8 — Cleaned tank, found a number of shells and 

 about a peck of gravel with sets on, but all dead. There were 

 no sets on the hanging shells; the reason for this. I think, is 

 owing to lack of current, which should be quite strong, there 

 is more danger ot getting too little than too much. Lowered 

 salt pond. 



September 19— Found a good set, the hanging shells had 

 sets 3 feet from the bottom, but the shells on the bottom did 

 the best. 



During July the temperature of the water in the tank 

 ranged from 65 to 73 degrees, and during August from 70 to 74, 

 while in the pond it ranged from 71 to 87 degrees. The den- 

 sity varying in each from 1.017 to 1 020, standing at the latter 

 figure steadily from July 19 to the close of the season. 



[Discussion to follow.] 



FISH HATCHING AT LARAMIE.— A little more than a 

 week ago I had the pleasure of inspecting the fish hatchery at 

 Laramie, Wyoming Territory. The drive out of town was a 

 delightful one, and Mr. W. A. Jameson's quick-stepping little 

 team of bays whirled us rapidly along over the smoota road 

 which led us out toward the hatchery. The Laramie plains 

 never looked more beautiful. They "were brightly green, 

 level as a floor, and in the distance rising in regular benched 

 terraces to the foothills of the grand mountains which flank 

 them to the east and west. Here and there the green of these 

 terraces is interrupted by red-washed bluffs which, in the 

 light of the setting sun glowed like the coals in a furnace. 

 Away to the right was old Fort Saunders, once a post of con- 

 siderable importance, but now abandoned and occupied by 

 squatters, who hope to get a title to it before long. The fish 

 hatchery consists of two or three unpreteutious wooden build- 

 ings; but the work done there seems excellent. The actual 

 business of hatching is over for the season, but the troughs 

 still contained many thousand fry, some of them less than an 

 inch long, which are waiting to be turned out. Of these there 

 are four species, lake trout, California trout, rainbow trout 

 and mountain brook trout, all of them apparently in the best 

 of health. The ponds in the grounds are five in number. The 

 upper one, which is quite small, contains at present no fish. 

 In the second 24,500 lake trout fry were placed last year, and 

 they are now active, vigorous fish, from six to eight inches in 

 length. The third pond contains a number of brook trout 

 from ten to fourteen inches long. In the first pond 

 below the house, 17,500 California trout fry have 

 been placed. These do not seem to be doing so well 

 as the other fish, and a number of dead ones were noticed on 

 the bottom of the pond. The attendant explained that these 

 fry when alarmed take refuge in a fine green vegetable scum 

 which forms along the margin of the pond, and that this 

 killed them. It seems probable that death is caused by tbe 

 fine fibers of this plant becoming entangled in their gills or 

 else winding about the head so that they cannot breathe. 

 Below this pond is another larger one in which the fish are 

 allowed to shift for themselves and to breed at will. It is 

 said that there are some fish in it weighing up to five and six 

 pounds. The Fish Commissioner, Mr. Otto Gram, is enthusi- 

 astic in his devotion to his work, and his efforts to stock the 

 streams of the Territory are being crowned with abundant 

 success. Already certain streams which were once barren 

 are well stocked with trout, and it is said that not long ago, 

 an urchin who was fishing in the Laramie River for suckers, 

 captured to his intense astonishment a four-pound trout. The 

 introduction of the lake trout into some of the many lakes of 

 the Territory will prove a great blessing to certain localities. 

 It is said that Mr. Gram expects shortly to start East to obtain 

 from near the Mississippi River a supply of coarser fish with 

 which to stock such waters as are not adapted to the Sal- 

 rnonidce. Wj oming Territory may be congratulated on her 

 enterprise in the matter of fishculture. — Laramie. 



SALMON IN THE HUDSON. — Mr. Matthew Kennedy, game 

 protector of the third district of the State of New York, re- 

 ports to Commissioner Blackford that Mr. Putnam Slingerland, 

 of Coeyman's, took a twelve pound salmon at Mull's fishery, 

 Castleton, last week. This is the fifth adult salmon captured 

 from the plant of 1882, so far recorded, besides the reports of 

 other fish seen. 



